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| Photo courtesy fanpop.com |
The dream of becoming a well-known, financially secure game
journalist was once a very feasible one. When I landed an interview with Greg
Kasavin of Supergiant Games in 2011 to write about their upcoming game Bastion,
it felt like a big deal. It was my first real foray into actual games
journalism. It was 100% written, there was no video, no audio and it was just a
straight conversation about the game, the story influences, the art direction
and Greg’s experience going from game media to game developer. I felt like I
was on my way. Then some stuff happened, I got in my own way a bit, life
tripped me up a bit, and by the time I write this now, and I still haven’t
achieved that dream.
But the thing is, game journalism as it has evolved to 2015,
would be nearly unrecognizable to my 2011 self. Maybe that’s due to a lack of
foresight on my part, or maybe it’s just a product of the speed at which online
media evolves. At one time, the barrier to entry was simply starting a blog
(much like The Weekend Paper) and working, researching, and outputting consistently
excellent writing. If you were good enough, you might get noticed, or at least
build up enough of a portfolio to promote yourself.
The internet is a fickle place though, and good writing is
nothing in a world driven by clicks and views. Joystiq, a highly respected
gaming news website, is coming to an end due to cuts at parent company, AOL.
Joystiq and its excellent group of writers know all too well, the fickle nature
of the internet. If you can’t generate massive numbers of hits at a consistent
rate, then you’re not making money and you’re not going to last.
And in video games, news and scoops don’t even seem to
generate the kind of hits that excite advertisers or bookkeepers anymore. Now,
videos get the kind of numbers that people want to see. If you can generate
hundreds of thousands of views on a YouTube video, or garner a massive number of
subscribers, like the recently established Kinda Funny Games, then you’re
golden. At least until the next big thing comes along.
So here I am, like Clint Eastwood in Grant Turino, yelling
at the kids on my front lawn and clinging to a specter of the past. I’m still
trying to get people to read what I write. Because yes, I enjoy making a good
video for YouTube once in a while, but I’m not interested, nor really capable
of becoming the kind of personality that’s popular on YouTube. I will continue
to dabble in videos, but right now, my attention has shifted to another
project.
Luckily, I started The Weekend Paper to be able to do
whatever I want. And I want to write something that people will read. And
people will always read novels. It’s proven to be a timeless medium and I’ve
recently done a lot of pre-planning for my own novel, tentatively called Red
Willow (I haven’t researched that title for copyrights or trademarks at all, so
we’ll call it a working title).
The idea for Red Willow came to me early last year, when I
started thinking about the poor state of vampire fiction. I’m a big fan of Bram
Stoker’s Dracula, a novel written over a hundred years ago that’s still as
fascinating and terrifying as it must have been when it was first published. The
character of Dracula is a terrifying character that I feel hasn’t received the
kind of attention and respect that he deserves. I wanted to write something
that gave a fresh take on the character of Dracula (again, the actual name
might need to change, due to trademarks).
I don’t want to give away anything about the story of Red
Willow, but I will say that I’ve taken influence not only from Bram Stoker’s
original novel, but from films like Jaws, Silence of the Lambs and Interview
With A Vampire. I want to make Dracula terrifying again, but I also want to
make him intellectually and psychologically challenging to my female main
character – hence the Silence of the Lambs influence.
My plan is to write a new chapter of the book every week and
post it on The Weekend Paper. Each entry will be a rough draft – a very rough draft,
in fact. Some things (such as character names or plot details may change from
week to week, and I will notify you, the reader of such changes ahead of time,
in each week’s introduction post.
This week, I’d like to present the first draft of the prologue
chapter. The chapter was greatly influenced by the opening scene of Jaws, and
utilizes the typical horror story technique of introducing the villain early
through one of its victims.
Please, please, please give me some feedback and let me know
what you liked/ didn’t like about the story. I have a rough outline sketched
out, but it’s flexible, leaving room for changes and twists. I couldn’t write
this without the encouragement of readers and I couldn’t stay motivated to
finish this massive project without anyone holding me accountable. So please
hold me accountable.
Thanks in advance.
ALSO! Today is my daughter’s first birthday. It’s been an
overwhelming year, full of wonderful change and joyous surprises. I would write
more, but really, all you need to know is that my daughter is awesome and
worthy of celebration. I love you, Quinny. Happy birthday!
If you’re enjoying The Weekend Paper, I’d greatly appreciate
your support on my Go Fund Me
campaign, so that I can create more video content and purchase a domain
name for the site rather than using the Blogspot template. If you don’t want to
donate, no worries, but maybe you could share the Go Fund Me page with your friends.
Thanks for reading!
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